Spain's sport and economic lessons

19 July 2010

Spain has a lot to be proud of, in the sporting world at least. Rafael Nadal took the men’s singles title at Wimbledon and the Spanish football team came up with a controlled and skilled display to lift the World Cup.

But success hasn’t come easy to Spain. It has taken years of hard work and investment to mould its outstanding football talent and in recent years that investment has paid off - a bitter lesson that England is learning the hard way.

If only money troubles didn’t threaten to put a dampener on celebrations. Spain’s long overdue economic reforms announced last month were warmly welcomed by the International Monetary Fund and it looks like the nation is set to play the same long-term game with its economy as it has with football.

With unemployment at 20%, a troubled property market and its banks struggling to raise funds because of a lack of confidence in the markets, it is widely thought that Spain has reached crisis point.

Structural reforms to rein in the deficit have met with resistance, with trade unions calling a general strike, mirroring the response to our own cuts. Harsh measures for harsh times, but at least Spain and the UK have taken definitive action.

While economic turmoil continues across Europe some of the world’s biggest sporting events have been a welcome distraction.
Let’s hope Spain’s sporting success rubs off on its beleaguered economy. It’s just a shame we can’t say the same thing.

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